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UK trainer Hughie Morrison says the extra scrutiny called for by the Victoria Racing Club before European horses travel to Australia for the spring carnival is an effort worth making especially following the deaths in the Melbourne Cup of recent years.

The VRC issued a press release on Tuesday asking Racing Victoria to consider a number of ideas that include all European horses undertake a CT scan, MRI scan, x-rays and undergo a veterinary examination by a panel of independent vets before travelling. 

Morrison is no stranger to controversy surrounding the Melbourne Cup having had Marmelo scratched from the 2019 race after RV vets felt there was a chance the stayer could suffer a catastrophic injury during the race as the result of a standing CT scan. 

Marmelo  had finished ninth in the 2017 Melbourne Cup returning the following year to run second to Cross Counter and Morrison was adamant the stayer was in good shape for last year's assault. 

"I've read the press releases and people like myself, we all feel very strongly about horse welfare," Morrison told RSN927. 

"We have a very low medication regime here. We have a very close contact with each individual horse and so we have avoided the catastrophic injuries throughout our training career, virtually. 

"It's a great shame what happened in the Melbourne Cup (with Anthony Van Dyck) and I can assure you that I was upset as anyone. 

"I think all the precautions with the MRI's, CT scans and x-rays, I understand all that, it's an effort worth making. 

"Everybody is working towards the same end, especially from over here. 

"I think the problem is, as I see it today, is there is too much of a 'them and us' scenario going on. There are lots of us over here that do things very differently from what other people do in the horse world. 

"We are getting caught up in other people's failings, I suspect, possibly, and it's obviously not going to make it easy to come as it has been." 

RV is undertaking a wide-ranging review of the recent deaths in the Melbourne Cup sparked by the catastrophic injury incurred by Epsom Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck last month. 

While some have called for quarantine to be shifted from Werribee, Morrison said that track was fine for the way he prepared Marmelo for his Cup campaigns. 

"Compared to some trainers we have a different training regime, we don't do so much hard, fast work," he said. 

"In terms of Marmelo he was easy. He was a big horse. He was an easy horse to get fit. 

"We brought him fit enough to do himself justice and didn't need to gallop him as much as some other horses and we did not put him under pressure at Werribee. 

"We have no negative feedback from galloping at Werribee and ironically even though we were warned that we might not be able to run the horse last year, we worked him as we would anyhow before the decision was made. 

"He worked very well and came through it as good as ever. 

"It is harsh to blame Werribee, it is the way people train their horses." 

Australia is unlike other jurisdictions around the world with tough quarantine laws. 

Horses are required to spend two weeks quarantine in their home country and a further two weeks in Australia before racing. 

Hong Kong, for instance, has their international races this weekend with horses flying in just a week before they are due to race. 

There has been some calling for international horses coming for the spring to be in Australia earlier than their mid-to-late September arrival. 

"Coming out in the middle or late September coincides with our summer ending and your spring time," Morrison said. 

"Night and day are about the same when the horses leave here and arrive there. 

"If they left here, in say July, August, and arrive in more of a winter climate, then they would be thinking they will have to start growing their coat again. 

"It affects the horses and the way they work and that would be the potential undoing of the timing at the moment. 

"We love international racing and the Melbourne Cup is big over here. 

"If you restrict international horses coming from Europe you are going to restrict the international aspect from it which will reduce any race given the way it has been sold over the years."